Sept. 11 Charities To Change Mission

Counseling And Job Training, Not Emergency Cash Grants, Will Take Priority, Officials Said.

February 17, 2002|By David W. Chen, New York Times

NEW YORK -- Having already doled out hundreds of millions of dollars to residents and businesses in Lower Manhattan, three of the biggest Sept. 11 charitable funds soon will stop taking applications for emergency cash grants for anyone who has lost a job, a business or income because of the terrorist attack.

Officials with the funds -- the American Red Cross' Liberty Fund, the September 11th Fund and the Salvation Army -- said they thought it was time to move from providing disaster relief to financing longer-term services such as job training and counseling. And they said they had already reached a sizable number of those affected, disbursing an estimated $250 million to more than 50,000 displaced workers and business owners to date.

The three funds will continue to grant money to the families of those killed in the attack.

But the decision to limit the programs of cash grants to those who lost jobs or businesses has provoked confusion and resentment. Thousands of workers and scores of businesses have yet to apply, and many remain unaware that they are even eligible for such aid, according to several officials involved in helping the downtown area recover economically. Moreover, they said word of the sudden imposition of a deadline had not reached many of those whom it would affect.

Charity officials, who at first said they were confident they had made a reasonable effort to inform people of the deadline, last week announced they would extend the deadline from Feb. 22 to March 8 for people to make appointments to discuss aid. Officials in charge of administering the cash grants said the number of people applying for new assistance had remained steady in recent weeks, with at least dozens of new applicants arriving daily. People who lost jobs as recently as Jan. 11 are eligible.

The grants awarded were used to pay bills, cover rent or jump-start a new business.